Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir

For generations the Burdens were one of the wealthiest families in New York, thanks to the inherited fortune of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Yet by 1955, the year of Wendy's birth, they had become a clan of overfunded, eccentric, steadfastly chauvinistic, and ultimately doomed blue bloods on the verge of financial and moral decline. Woven with wry humor, tragedy, family intrigue, and booze, Burden's memoir offers a glimpse into the excess of old money and lends darkly hilarious evidence for the maxim that the rich are different.

"This blueblood tale is spun so deftly and so charmingly that it is easy to forget that this is essentially a sad story of family neglect and degeneration. Burden joins the ranks of such memoirists as Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris."—Booklist

"Wendy Burden takes us inside the family circus that was her side of the Vanderbilt dynasty, bringing American class structure, sibling rivalry, and the decline of the blue bloods vividly to life. It's a wonderful read."—Gus Van Sant